Conference History

The Boston Invitational Model United Nations Conference (BosMUN) is one of the premier high school conferences in the United States, playing host to around 1,400 students from around the country and the world. Students participate in simulated sessions of intergovernmental and other political bodies, covering topics from economics to government to military to business and fostering learning in civics, writing, research, negotiation, debate, and public speaking.

BosMUN was initially run by Boston University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In March 2008, Boston University took sole ownership of the conference. The location of the conference was also relocated to the Boston Park Plaza Hotel in downtown Boston. BosMUN prides itself on providing an exceptional experience for both the novice and advanced attendee. This year, BosMUN is especially excited to be holding our conference at the Boston Marriott Hotel Copley Place.

The conference itself is broken up into four committee types. General Assemblies (GA) are BosMUN’s largest committees. Run in the style and form of United Nations General Assemblies, these offer delegates the opportunity to participate in a traditional Model UN experience, focusing on public speaking in front of a large group, formal resolution writing, and negotiation with their peers. Economic and Social Councils (ECOSOC) committees are slightly smaller than GAs, but are still run in strict parliamentary procedure. Delegates can still utilize the skills necessary for success in a GA, but in the setting of a more narrowly-focused body.

Our Specialized Agencies are small committees that include actual United Nations Specialized Agencies and other unique committees. Specialized Agencies incorporate some crisis elements into committee, provided by our floating crisis room. Essentially, if debate begins to slow in these committees, our floating crisis room will introduce a new development, making for an exciting experience for all involved. Our Press Corps committee allows delegates to visit other committees during the conference, to get information to write articles for the conference newsletter, Twitter feed, and blog. The Non-Governmental Organization Forum (NGO Forum) also allows delegates to visit other committees during the conference, this time lobbying on behalf of their organization’s cause and lending support to resolutions that their organization is in favor of.

Crisis committees are our smallest and most dynamic committees. Delegates are allowed to change the direction of their committee with the involvement of their crisis room, which will provide them with updates and crises to address. The crisis director creates crises that the committee must react to, sometimes involving the entire committee or just individual members. These committees are constantly changing and evolving, requiring delegates to work quickly to respond to recent developments. In our Joint Crisis Committees, the actions of one committee affect the other committee. This attempts to recreate real-world conditions, in which the actions of everyone involved affect the course of a crisis. We also conduct ‘Midnight Crisis’ in which some delegates are called back into committee in the middle of the night to deal with a major crisis, simulating how real-world events often surprise decision-makers, requiring them to act under trying circumstances.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions that you may have about our committee structure.